It's Just Another War
by Hannah Lynn McDonald
Summary: A scene study of sorts of the scene in The Winter Soldier where the helicarriers are launched.


_"And if I'm the only one, then so be it."_

* * *

"Preempt the launch sequence - send those ships up now."

The breath froze in his lungs and everything just seemed to stop moving. He wasn't talking to him - he couldn't be talking to him. He wasn't a warrior, wasn't a soldier - he was just some guy sitting at a desk waiting to enter a few commands into the network of computers around him. He was replaceable - there was at least three other people that could do this job: the man couldn't be talking to him.

No one else was doing anything. They were all just sitting at him, watching him. They stared at him pointedly, and he knew that they expected him to launch the sequence - to launch the Insight Program: the Hydra program. They expected him to do his job, to do as he was trained to do; but the air was sucked from his lungs and the energy from his muscles and through the suddenly heavy air echoed the static of the PA system the Captain had used.

"Is there a problem?"

Problem? No - why would there be a problem? The man behind him was hardly to use this as a test - not beginning with him. If this heavily armed man was just testing his loyalty - just eliminating Hydra from the Insight Project - then he would have shut down the Project first. No one loyal would have risked his command being obeyed.

"Is there a problem?"

And still no one moved. They all just kept staring at him from around the room - wondering what was wrong with him that he wasn't obeying the command. Why he wasn't doing his part to keep people safe. And at this point, with the tension rising, and with no assistance coming from anyone around him - did those two just move further away? - he felt sick.

Yes, there was a lot wrong: he was wrong, and Hydra was wrong, and SHIELD was wrong, and Insight was wrong, and...And he had a decision to make with a right choice and a wrong choice. One would mean he would get to go home at the end of today if they won, and he would get to live free; and the other meant that he would be executed when they lost. He knew he wasn't of any use - he was easily replaceable.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

He couldn't do it. No one was coming, but he still couldn't do it. Even if every single person in this room - every single person in this entire _city_ \- was Hydra and would shoot him for opposing them, he couldn't do it. No matter his decision, he wouldn't survive the day. He didn't imagine many would be here - but even more would die if those ships were launched. He had to ignore everyone watching him, look away from the suddenly hostile forces in the room - those that had eaten and laughed with him before this.

"I'm not gonna launch those ships. Captain's orders."

He could finally breathe again. The bands around his chest loosened, and he took a deep breath in as he straightened up. Little good it would do him though, soon enough. If anything, the air around him grew thicker, and he could feel his chest tightening even as it grew easier for him to breath. The man behind him didn't move, and he prayed for a quick end - that perhaps against all odds it was just a test.

"Move away from your station."

He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing his lips together to stifle the gasp as the muzzle of the gun pressed against his head. His hands raised in instinctive surrender, although he knew it was no good: he had signed his death warrant by following the Captain's orders. Perhaps the Captain wasn't standing completely alone - but in this room, he was. And soon, there would be no one here to hold off Insight.

The gun pressed harder, and he leaned forward automatically trying to get away from it. Distantly, he wondered if blood was easy to clean off off computers, or if his death would be able to stall the launch of Project Insight even longer by frying the controls. He wasn't even sure why he chose suicide - it wasn't like he was preventing anything. There was a quick movement from his side, and he cringed as the gun was pressed forward an inch and he heard a gun being cocked.

"Like he said: Captain's orders."

* * *

 _"But I'm willing to bet that I'm not."_

* * *

 _AN: The absolute best scene in_ The Winter Soldier _was the 'Captain's Orders' scene with the tech guy that stood up against Hydra seemingly by himself in the room. He did not expect to survive._ _11-14-2015_


End file.
